Three Things the MSM Constantly Gets Wrong about the Gun Control Debate

Mar 19, 2018

By: Ted Patterson

1 The Second Amendment is not “just about hunting”

The mainstream media (MSM) liberals on TV are constantly dumbfounded by the idea that Americans should own anything more than a shotgun (and sometimes not even that). “Why do you need AR-15s for hunting?” they’ll say over and over again.

The Second Amendment is our last resort and most powerful check on tyranny. It’s our right to defend ourselves, our family, and our property. Sure people love to hunt, but there is a whole world of recreational shooters. Gun ownership is part and parcel to American life.

The Second Amendment is about more than hunting; it is the linchpin to our Republic. As Americans, the right to keep and bear arms is enshrined in our Constitution, and we are not required to justify our possession of firearms to the media or anyone else.

2 If you’re scared of guns, it doesn’t give you the right to call them “assault weapons” or “military style”

The AR-15 is one of the most popular guns in America. USA Today reported that roughly 8 million Americans own AR-15s, and the MSM constantly tacks on the term “military style” to make people envision the laughable picture of an angry militia of crazed gun-owners bandying machine guns about in the public square. CNBC provides a handy explanation of why the “assault weapons” and “military style” labels are ridiculous:

“An ‘assault rifle’ is a weapon the military generally uses and has ‘select fire capabilities,’ or the capability to switch between semi-automatic or a fully automatic mode. However, the civilian AR-15s do not have the select fire capabilities, only semi-automatic settings, so the firearms industry insists they are not an actual assault rifle or assault weapon.”

Who can forget this classic footage from 2014 out of none other than the Socialist Republic of California?

Senator de Leon is woefully ignorant, but the bigger problem is that we allow people like this to paint us into a corner. Today, the term “assault weapon” is widely and improperly used. We’ve lost the naming war on that particular term. The only way to fight back is to educate the public about guns and to expose people like Senator de Leon when they make foolish comments.

3 “AR” doesn’t stand for “Assault Rifle”

Gun owners should already know this, but the “AR” in AR-15 actually dates back to the 1950s and refers to the company that developed the rifle, Armalite Rifle.

National Shooting Sports Foundation provides a great run-down on this topic. Here are a couple big points:

● If someone calls an AR-15-style rifle an “assault weapon,” he or she either supports banning these firearms or does not understand their function and sporting use, or both. Please correct them. “Assault weapon” is a political term created by California anti-gun legislators to ban some semi-automatic rifles there in the 1980s.

● AR-15-style rifles are no more powerful than other hunting rifles of the same caliber and in most cases are chambered in calibers less powerful than common big-game hunting cartridges like the 30-06 Springfield and .300 Win. Mag.